(CNSNews.com) - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) said on Wednesday that the Democrats’ loss of the special election in New York’s 9th Congressional District—which was formerly represented by Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner—was actually a “good day” because it made Democrats realize they needed to intensify their efforts to prevail in next year’s elections.

“In terms of New York, yeah, that was a disappointment. We would have preferred to win,” said Pelosi.

“It was a good day because it was something where other people realize we have to buckle down in order to win this,” she said.

“It does not alter our plan for taking back the House,” she added.

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Pelosi said that Democrats remain “very optimistic” about doing that.

“We’re optimistic about the recruitment of candidates, the raising of money, the raising of the issues that are out there, and that’s positive for us,” she said.

New York’s 9th Congressional District became vacant when Weiner resigned following a sexting scandal. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 3-1 in the district, and it has elected nothing but Democrats to Congress for more than eight decades. The population in the district is about 40 percent Jewish.